Val McLeod
Valeray "Val" Étienne McLeod née Tarantino is a French wizard who works at the British Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries. He previously worked as the Shopkeeper Assistant at the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour after a summer internship and graduating from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Early Life & Upbringing Val was born (4 January 2064) in Lourdes, France and lived as an orphan in The Sanctuary (French: le Sanctuaire). He is an only child and has spent his childhood raised at the Sanctuary following his mother's death right after birth. His father wasn't present at the time and Val didn't care to find him since his dad wasn't searching for him anyway. When in actuality, his father is not aware of having a son, therefore leaving him with no information on his parent's history for much of his life. The Sanctuary held many other orphans and abandoned children. The few amount of friends Val made there were later adopted or had ran away to never be seen again. The teachers were also fairly strict with them, making sure mistakes that were made never happened again or else. This kept him remaining quiet, keeping to himself by exploring as far as he was allowed to go in the grounds. His first traces of magic went without notice to anyone, even to himself as he fully accepted having a high tolerance for pain during unusual circumstances that would've gravely injured him otherwise. The summer following his eleven birthday, Val was personally visited by the Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Madame Enzo. She was kind with him and had already spoken with the nuns at the Sanctuary declaring that he would be escorted to a special school to fulfill the rest of his compulsory education. Val having no compassion for The Sanctuary or anyone else, accepted. He had grown tired of people and made no effort to make friends after arriving. Instead paying more careful attention to his studies rather than change his anti-social behavior. His reputation since had made him unapproachable among his peers as he was noted for his sarcastic remarks and rejecting any form of social invitations. Val allowed anyone to work with him, but to make new friends carried a risk of never seeing them again so he chose the less painful option and remained a loner. By his sixth year of schooling, things began to change again for Val. Having reclused himself in the library as usual, he had no worries about the upcoming examinations near the end. He knew more than enough and had been considering finishing his time at Beauxbatons after passing. One day during a History class he was partnered with another male, Deacon Bertino. Though Val didn't talk with many of his classmates, he knew enough about Deacon to automatically dislike him, or so he thought. Word was there wasn't a female alive that didn't know of him on a personal level on campus. He couldn't help staring at him disapprovingly from afar and at proximity. One thing was for certain, Val was academically successful. Deacon was not. Refusing to let him pull down his grade, Val did all he could helping inbetween their sarcastic remarks at each other. It worked, as they passed the assignment. To Val's surprise, Deacon suggested they work together from then on. It had been the first time he was offered anything of kindness in a long time, and quite appreciated that. Through a series of mixed signals, a fight and an apology between the two, they became friends. Val's final year at Beauxbatons was interesting as their school participated in the Quiz Bowl. He was recommended to be one of the representatives of the school while staying at Hogwarts. Val had no interest in joining however, seeing as he wouldn't be keeping the trophy, he stayed behind allowing another one to take his place. It was a golden opportunity to see another place, but it wasn't his only chance. Val was prepared for his final exams, finishing them with ease. It began to hit him however that he wouldn't have anywhere else to go and would need to find a new place to stay. To Val's surprise, His now best friend Deacon offered him a place to stay in London following his examinations, making them roommates. Val was finally away from the Sanctuary for good. After he helped around the Bertino family's shop, he was encouraged to find a job after graduating in the meantime while he was unsure on his future. Val began interning during the summer and despite a certain incident he was offered a full-time position as assistant, which he gratefully accepted. Adult years Following graduation and his internship Val, who spent most of his time either at home or work. Occasionally he "rescued" Deacon when he got himself into too much trouble at the local Pub. Their home space had a new addition when Deacon's new girlfriend Mae Nixon moved in. She became his new friend, who was very interested in seeing Val as happy as them and not so private. Their attempts at breaking Val's shell only managed to break his patience at times, but he took the hints and gradually spent less time in the house after work. One day in 2085, he had collided with a random guy (at the time) who was skating by. James McLeod was his name, who was apologetic over the run-in. If anything his excessive happy behavior annoyed Val more than the actual run-in. Regardless he was invited to one his parties, and so Val went on ahead and had himself a good time even though he wall-flowered when not talking with James at said party. The two became good friends over time to the point where in the summer they both went to the WizRock concert together on a date and became even closer, leading to a wonderful time together in the end. Since then they had become an official couple. Within the next two years of their relationship was filled with many happy times. James agreed to move out of his brother Justin's home to stay in with Val in the winter of 2086. Despite Deacon and Mae having moved out to America in their own nice home, Val remained considerably happy in his life with James, hoping it continues being so from thereon. It did indeed as they both became engaged and later married in the Summer of 2089. They were ordained by none other than Val's birth father, which led to a more awkward than an emotional reunion for them both. He got his full blessing and agreed half-heartedly to catch up later on. In the new decade, Val resigned from his job of selling ice cream to focus on the rest of his studies before applying at the British Ministry of Magic. If you asked for the specifics, he would say it was in the Department of Research. When not at work or reading, Val spent time with his family. After discussing it with his husband, they agreed to look into adopting a child of their own, which was granted to them happily at the arrival of Aria. Val surprised Deacon and Mae by introducing Aria to them. It was awkward at first but they eventually warmed up to her. To this day they all still get together like old times. Val was apart of the team to help clear out the army of boggarts in Hogwarts castle, he dealt with the sight of what looked like the rest of his team being blown away but thankfully it was just an illusion. The castle was safe again, and he was able to continue working as usual afterward. Work & Academic History British Ministry of Magic The Space Chamber: Evolutionist - (January 2094 - Present) The Space Chamber: Astronomer -'' (''January 2089 - December 2093) Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour Shopkeeper Assistant - (Fall 2082 - Summer 2088) Intern -'' (''Summer 2082) London Wizarding University Diplomancy & Wizarding Relations Major - (Fall 2084 - Summer 2086) Experimental Magic & Research Major - (Summer 2086 - Winter 2088) Buried Items Sales Assistant - (Summer 2081) Beauxbatons Academy of Magic First - Seventh year - (Fall 2075 - Spring 2082) S.L.W Results= |-|S.L.W.T Results= Category:Characters Category:Diagon Alley Category:Half-Blood Category:Ombrelune Category:Beauxbatons Alumni Category:Class of 2082 Category:Shopkeeper Assistant Category:Ministry of Magic Category:Unspeakable Category:Department of Mysteries Category:Second generation